Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
1994
Thesis Director
J. Michael Havey
Abstract
The Children's Roles Inventory was developed to assess the four theoretical children's roles found not only in alcoholic families but in all families regardless of parental alcoholism: the Hero, Mascot, Lost Child, and Scapegoat. A sample of 266 college students, with 19% indicating parental alcoholism, completed the CRI and measures of self-actualization and self-esteem to verify any differences between the identified groups of adult children of alcoholics, adults from nonalcoholic families and the four roles within. Demographic information was also obtained including: gender, age, and whether the individual was a member of a fraternity or sorority.
Significant differences were found in these areas: COA-Scapegoats scored higher on the CRI than nonCOA-Scapegoats for this subgroup; Heroes, Mascots, and the Blended subgroup scored higher than Lost Children in self-esteem; and males scored higher in self-esteem than females. These results indicated that the four theocratical children's roles can cautiously be applied to a college population with few empirical differences. A suggestion for further investigation of the use of the CRI was to administer the measure to high school or junior-high school students. Questions still remain of how appropriate the CRI is for labeling individuals who do not come from alcoholic families.
Recommended Citation
Pienkos, Todd E., "Generalization of the Four Roles Found in Adult Children of Alcoholics to a College Population" (1994). Masters Theses. 2058.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/2058
